Berkeley scientist battles toxic sofas to promote public health

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Arlene Blum, a visiting scholar in biochemistry at the University of California, who was part of a team of scientists whose research led to a federal prohibition against several flame retardants in sofas, beds and clothes, poses poses for a photograph Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014, at Live Oak Park in Berkeley, Calif. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group)

BERKELEY — The banner that Arlene Blum unfurled in 1976 on the 24,500-foot mark of the world’s highest mountain had an image of two petri dishes and an obscure message: “THE MUTANTS.”

Blum never made it to the top of Mt. Everest, though she was the first American woman to try. But on icy nights, nestled in a tent, she finalized the first of two landmark scientific studies that found a chemical commonly added to children’s pajamas was a mutagen, capable of damaging DNA and possibly causing cancer. The results of the work led to a U.S. ban.

This year, she did it again.

In a life full of soaring accomplishments as a mountaineer and biophysical chemist, Blum’s latest victory might be the most far-reaching because it could improve the health of millions of Americans over time.

A new California policy taking effect this year frees furniture makers from a decades-old rule that effectively forced them to douse sofas with chemical flame retardants in hopes the cushions would not catch on fire. The new rule by Gov. Jerry Brown amends and largely reverses the original one — California Technical Bulletin 117 — he put in place as governor in 1975.

“It’s an enormous victory,” said State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who met Blum about seven years ago and became a champion of her cause in the state Legislature.

Blum had thought long ago she was done fighting the use of Tris, the chemical she and her colleagues discovered in the 1970s could damage DNA and possibly cause cancer.

But she returned to science in 2006, inspired in part by the Oakland Tribune’s disturbing 2005 report that measured the “body burden” of toxic chemicals in the blood of one local family. The health-conscious family had high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, used as a furniture fire retardant because of California’s 1975 flammability standard and suspected of causing adverse health effects. In 2004, as California was preparing to ban PBDEs, furniture manufacturers across the country voluntarily stopped using two forms of the chemical.

But then they found a substitute: Tris.

“I was incredulous,” said Blum, who learned about the new practice from a foam industry executive in 2006. “I found out the same Tris we got out of kids’ pajamas in 1977 was back in our furniture.”

Blum went back to the laboratory but also began reaching out to lawmakers and founded the Green Science Policy Institute.

“I was invited to attend a Sunday night meal at her home in Berkeley,” Leno said. “That’s where I was introduced to the world of chlorinated and brominated fire retardants and the plague they have placed on the planet Earth.”

He thought his bill had wide support, but the chemical flame retardant industry launched a multimillion dollar campaign to halt it. He and Blum crafted several more attempts, losing every time.

Blum ridded her own home of sofas and chairs that used chemically-treated polyurethane foam for cushioning, replacing them with blanket-stuffed furniture she admits was not very comfortable. She realized most families could do little without a change in the California rule that was the de facto national standard.

“The mechanism of exposure is through dust,” Blum said. “So the flame retardants are continuously coming out of furniture and products, dropping into dust. You get dust (on) your hands, you eat something, you’re ingesting it.”

That’s one reason why young children are so susceptible to consuming the chemicals. They and pregnant women are also the most vulnerable because of the way the chemicals interfere with developing brains, Blum said.

The new policy does not ban chemical retardants, but makes it easier for manufacturers to find other ways of showing their upholstered furniture is not fire-prone.

“Changing standards is way more important than banning chemicals,” Blum said. “Banning chemicals raises awareness and is useful, but you really want to look at the whole problem. Why move from one toxic chemical to another chemical that may or may not be toxic?”

Still, with stores now trying to sell off their 2013 lines and because of the long life span of sofas in most homes, chemicals will be leaching into dust, bodies, soil and waterways for years to come. Blum is working on methods to help Californians begin replacing and disposing of treated cushions, especially for families who cannot afford a pricey new couch. Her institute is launching a foam exchange in April.

Even as she traversed the world’s mountains, Berkeley has been Blum’s base camp since she arrived at UC Berkeley for graduate school in 1967.

She founded the Himalayan Fair here in 1983, choosing Live Oak Park as the venue because its leafy gully reminded her of treks through Nepal. The culture festival returns for its 31st year May 17 and 18.

Just a short walk from the North Berkeley park is the headquarters of Blum’s green policy group. Its goals are educating the public about chemical products and persuading scientists to engage policymakers.

“She is fearless, focused and very effective in her advocacy, not only here in California but literally around the world,” Leno said. “What an astounding woman and an amazing career.”

Hometown Hero

Name: Arlene Blum Age: 69 Occupation: Biophysical chemist; founder and director of Green Science Policy Institute Hometown: Berkeley Claim to Fame: Battling against the use of toxic flame retardant chemicals in furniture and other consumer products; climbing the world’s highest peaks and leading the first all-women teams to ascend Denali (Alaska’s Mt. McKinley) and Annapurna (in the Himalayas) Quote: “When scientists take their research and make statements in the public interest, the research can be used to protect our health and environment.” Info: For more about the Green Science Policy Institute and how to find chemical-free sofas and trade in toxic furniture foam, go to www.greensciencepolicy.org.

Hometown Heroes, a partnership between Bay Area News Group-East Bay and Comcast, celebrates people in the Bay Area who make a difference in their communities. Read about a new Hometown Hero every other week and watch the video on Comcast On Demand at Channel One-Get Local-Hometown Heroes or at ContraCostaTimes.com/hometownheroes. Do you know a Hometown Hero? Let us know about the work they do at HometownHeroes@bayareanewsgroup.com.

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